Once Upon a Oh No!
by starmariofan4
Summary: In New York, four regular kids are being hunted by shadow beast sent by a demonic creature that corrupts every heart she comes across, and suddenly they are being told they're the only ones that can stop it, but before they have to save fairy tales. Oh, well.
1. Chapter 1

"Merlee, is there a dimension where they don't live in a magic kingdom created from kid's dreams?" Mario asked, referring to their other-dimensional counterparts as the _Brotherhood_ whisked back onto the shelf.

"Yes, in fact there is," Merlee replied, solemnly bringing down another book that was pure white and at the center was a circle of gold with seals with of a lion holding a sword and an arrow, to the right one was violin with waves crashing at the shore in the back, the left were two swans, one black and one white, wearing a golden crown swimming on a golden lake, and to the south was a book with a staff and sword in the background. Inside the book, they saw two figures soundly sleeping under two comforters: one that was bright red with a picture of an arrow and bow, the other was white with baseball bats, mitts, and actual baseballs. Suddenly, the alarm blared and the boy who had been sleeping under the bow and arrow comforter popped up from bed. The boy seemed to be at least eight or nine, and he had solid, chocolate-brown hair and wore red, yarn pajamas. He wiped his dreary eyes, and walked over to the second bed where, they presumed, lied his sibling.

"Time to get up, bro," the boy drowsily said, and then leaving while the figure was still fast asleep in bed. "Well, I tried." The boy said and then walked over to the door where a tiny note was posted on the door that read.

 _We're gonna be gone when you wake up,_

 _because we have a job in Manhatten_

 _so we left you Pop Tart on the table_

 _as well as your lunches._

 _Remember to wake up your brother._

The boy sighed as he reached down for their mail, and began sifting through the bills which were for their parents; this process continued until they came across a pink envelope with a big heart in the background. He quickly ripped open the envelope, and pulled out yet another letter.

 _Hey, Mario. Are you awake?_

 _You better be. We have a school_

 _today and remember we have that_

 _sad song concert today. If you're not awake_

 _by 8:00, we're leaving without you._

 _P. Daniella Toadstool_

 _Penny_

 _P.S. Momma packed four slices of cake for lunch,_

 _I'll be happy to share with you._

Mario wiped his eyes, before his eyes seemed to bulge out of his skull. "LUIGI!" he cried racing into their bedroom, and quickly threw off his brother's green blanket which sent him flying to the floor. This boy was a tad thinner than his brother and had the same shade of hair as Mario's, and he was wearing green pajamas.

"Ow," Luigi said, trying to get up from the bedroom's floor. "What was that for?" he cried, pulling himself up to his feet, before his brother threw him some blue denim shorts, a shirt that looked like a Yankees jersey and baseball cap.

"Just get dressed," Mario said, grabbing his own clothes which was a red and orange striped shirt, blue pants, and red sneakers. After, they both dressed, ate their breakfast, and got ready for school, they slipped out the door and left for the bus stop. At the bus stop, they were two girls already there; the younger girl had fire-red hair that was tied into ponytails with bows, and a white blouse, and a school girl skirt, while carrying a mini freezer lunchbox; the older girl was about ten or eleven and had darker brunette hair than the boys, that was the color of oak that was tied into a low ponytail, and wore beige pants and a yellow top with white sleeves, on her arm was brown sack lunch. The younger girl had been practicing her ballet, and the eleven-year-old was singing lyricless song with much emotion, and reading a story.

The younger girl looked at the two boys, and said, "Mario. Luigi. Looks like my letter got you out of bed this morning."

"Sort of. I was actually awake already," Mario said, while the older girl pulled out another storybook from a backpack.

"You two practiced, right?" the younger girl asked, staring straight into their eyes.

"Yes?" the boys said simultaneously, and unsure. The younger girl raised an eyebrow at them.

"You didn't practice a note," the older girl said, not even looking up at them as she continued to read the book in her hand.

"Sorry," Mario shrugged, knowing that he should've done so, but he just "forgot", and so did his brother.

"Sorry, Daisy," Luigi cutely said to her, "I know we should have been, but we just got worried when mom and dad didn't get home."

"Luigi , you're a sweet kid, but that doesn't work on me," Daisy told him, while Penny and Mario argued in the background. Daisy then turned towards the arguing pair and said, "We still have time to practice."

"Fine, let's get to work," Penny angrily said. So, the four began to sing the acapella version of _Hallelujah_ , and they finished when the bus came. The four mounted the school bus, but Mario couldn't help, but feel like they were being watched; like two creeping eyes were staring straight into his soul.

"Hey, kid you gonna get on or what?" the bus driver crankily said to Mario who had been having the feeling of watch creep down his spine.

"Wha...Yeah. I am," Mario replied, walking onto the bus, and sat next to his brother in their usual seat in front of the sisters. "Hey, guys. Do you ever get the feeling you're being watched?"

"All the time," Luigi said. "I know they are watching. They are _always_ watching."

"Who are you talking about?" Mario asked, puzzled knowing about his odd behavior.

"Aliens, of course. They are always watching," Luigi answered, grabbing a tin foil hat from his backpack and putting it on. "Need some."

"NO!" the three yelled.

"What I mean is have you ever felt like being watched, but nobody is even there," Mario said, looking around at the other students on the bus.

Penny looked over at her best friend, and grew concerned. "Mario, I wouldn't worry about it. You're probably just nervous for the recital today," Penny said, giving him her warmest smile, and this calmed him and seemed to make all his troubles disappear. "Okay, now?" and Mario nodded. "Great," Penny replied, then looked over at her elder sister. "Hey, Dais. How about reading us a fairy tale?"

"You got it," Daisy replied, with a smile, and pulled out her storybook that was a birthday gift from their rich parents. Her storybook was real leather that was colored black and a beautiful fantasy scene colored in gold, that was big both vertically and horizontally. "Which one do you want to read?" _Even if I'm the only one who's actually doing the reading._

"How about _The Seven Ravens_?" Mario and Luigi said in unison and Penny scoffed.

"We read that one yesterday. Remember?" Penny said in a fakingly stereotypical rich girl tone.

Mario seeing what she was doing said, "Well, Your Highness, what do you want? Or is it too much of a strain to tell us peasants?"

Luigi and Daisy gave a slight giggle, and Penny said, "No, but I do request _The Little Mermaid_ , instead."

Daisy played along and said, "Why, of course." The boys put their hands up in surrendered and agreed to Penny's suggestion. "Don't worry guys, we'll read your story on the way back." Daisy then continued on with the story until they arrived at Nintendo Elementary School.

Meanwhile, behind the thick brick building, stood a man hidden by the shadows, but was seemingly talking to nothing but another voice was very present. "Did you find them?" the voice had asked him.

"Yes, ma'am," he replied. "Shall we give them their Gifts now?"

The voice then said, "No. At least not yet, but soon." The man looked down in the twinkling light were four amulets that looked like the seals on golden chains. "We must not bring attention to them just yet. Who knows what SHE'll do to them in this state if SHE finds them before us?"

"Alright," he said, then closed his palms to conceal the light of the glistening amulets. "Let's be ready though. They'll need to take up the totem soon."

"Yes. The seal is breaking," the woman said, before they heard hissing from behind them. Quickly, the man drew a sword from its sheath and looked around the pitch black alley in a frenzy. They looked around at the empty alley, but suddenly the woman's bloodcurdling screams were all that could be heard.

Author's Note: So, here's another spin-off of my original and is basically the Mario franchise and Dark Parables combined together.


	2. Chapter 2

"Bye, sis," Penny called, as the eldest ran to the sixth grade part of the school. When Daisy was out of sight, the three younger ones made their way to the younger portions of the school. "So, Mario. Did you study for Mr. Miyamoto's test?"

Mario scratched his head, and chuckled nervously. Penny and Luigi slapped their foreheads, and Luigi said, "You know you can't get a bad grade on this test, or you can't be in Romeo and Juliet with Penny."

"I do NOT want to end up kissing Marth!" Penny cried, for in this production Mario and she plays the titular characters, but if Mario, who has been doing terribly in school, fails to keep his C- he'll lose his privilege to be in their plays. "Look Mario. Shockingly, I actually want you to do well in school."

"Come on, Penny. I've always gotten through school," Mario said, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Just try hard, okay," Penny said, when a thought came to her. "We still have a bit of time before class," with that she grabbed Mario's arm and forced him to head over to the library. The library was circularly-shaped where books upon books were stacked together, where stories on fiction and fact all were there (and Daisy had read them all), and through the blue doors, Penny pushed Mario into the building.

"Come on, Pen!" Mario cried before Mr. Zhao, their librarian, shushed them. "Oops, sorry, sir," Mario whispered, and Mr. Zhao then went back to sorting the new books. "Penny, it's almost time for class, and it's not going to help if we're both late."

"Mario, just a little while. Please," Penny begged, giving her the cute eyes and Mario slapped his forehead.

"Fine. You're worse than Luigi," Mario stated, but Peach had already ran over to fact section and grabbed a book on the statehood of New York. She sat Mario down at one of the tables, and opened it up to a section and began to practice.

 _RING!_ The first bell at rung, and they raced to the third floor of a thick red brick building where Mr. Miyamoto's class was. The classroom was 18 by 18 room with about twenty-four desks in rows by last names, and covered in the children's drawing; at the front in, big black-marker letters STATEHOOD. Mario and Penny were the last to enter the class, and in a flash took their seats, next to Mario's strange friend, Dylan Kong Junior or just DK.

"Late again I see," DK said, getting way too close for comfort. DK was the same age as Mario and Penny, with a similar colored hair as Mario, and always wore a red tie. Suddenly, he paused and began to sniff around Mario's backpack and then turned back towards the owner and said, "I know you have bananas!" he said, pressing his nose against the boy.

Mario pushed him away, and said, "I don't actually know what I have." Suddenly, Mr. Miyamoto, handed out the tests and gave a disapproving look at DK.

:"Now, please, no cheating and good luck," Mr. Miyamoto said, and took a seat at his desk, and Mario and Penny took up their two yellow pencils and began to circle each letter in the paper. Penny, meanwhile, glanced over to keep an eye to see if Mario was actually concentrating, not just putting A for every question. Luckily, he wasn't. Penny sighed happily and went back to work.

"Time's up!" Mr. Miyamoto called, and all the kids placed their pencils on the side. He walked around and grabbed their papers off their desk. The rest of class was pretty standard with books and math, and then it was time for the concert.

Every month they hold a different concert with a different emotion, and the kids had always signed up with their voices, and Luigi's violin skills. Mario and Penny walked out, as they saw the different students walking out as they waited for Daisy and Luigi to come. "There goes Zelda Nohansen. Poor girl," Penny whispered to Mario, as a young girl their age walked by wearing a long gown in the style of a Victorian woman that was much too big for her, and her head was tilted down to the floor.

"Yeah," Mario said. They both knew she was bullied constantly by some of the older students and they hated this, but they were always too afraid to tell. They looked at some other students, until they saw their siblings rushing over. "Oh, hi guys," Mario said, as they took long deep breaths. "Are you ready to go?"

The little brother kept panting and the oldest started to worry. Luigi had been born with asthma and had to carry an inhaler with him and his doctor's note. Quickly, he searched his backpack with the elder kids helping him until he found, but Daisy said, "Yeah, and sorry we're late. I got hounded by Marth who was," she then said in a mocking tone, "'how unfair it was to nine year olds in the parts of Romeo and Juliet,' and not him and Minerva."

"We worked our butts off for those parts and he has no right to tell you what to do!" Mario cried, then pouted.

Penny looked away and said, "If they're being mean to you, Daisy, I'll back out of being Juliet." The three other kids looked over, and gave her a surprised look.

"B-but you love Romeo and Juliet," Luigi said, because Penny had wanted to play the female lead for years on end.

Penny looked down and said, "If they harassing Daisy, because of this then I don't want to be in the play at all."

The two boys looked over at the eldest, who was still in a state of shock. "Well, I won't let you."

"What?" Penny asked.

"You did nothing wrong, so there is no reason for you to leave," Daisy explained, and Penny was about to retort, but Daisy stopped her.

"Besides. You and I are going to be awesome," Mario said, and Penny smiled. "Happy now." Penny nodded, and he replied, "Good, now let's head over to audiotorium." The four then headed over to the auditorium, when Mario felt like they were being watched again.

"Mario?" Penny asked. Mario quickly looked up and she said, "Are you happy to be playing Romeo?"

"Of course! I love to rub that fact in that jerk's face," Mario replied, happily, until they noticed Daisy giving Mario her signature death glare.

"We do not rub the fact we got a big roles in other people's face," Daisy said, as they approached the auditorium.

"Mario," a voice whispered, and Mario quickly spun around only to see that no one was present behind him. "Mario," it whispered again and Mario was getting slightly annoyed (and a bit paranoid) and looked behind.

 _Come on, Segali; you're just stressed, because of the test, the concert and...and the play. Right?_ Mario thought to himself and shook his head and followed the rest of the kids into the theater. The theater was already prepared for _Romeo and Juliet,_ specifically the balcony scene where they confess their love for each other.

Daisy took her seat at a table below stage as she was president of the Film and Theatre club, therefore the director as well. "Places people. Places. We have two more weeks to get this perfect!" Daisy called to the actors and actresses who cleared off except for Mario and Penny.

Penny climbed up to the balcony while Mario stayed below, and recited some lines from his script, "But, soft! By yonder window..." Mario became unsure and called out, "LINE!"

Daisy slapped her forehead and said in a dramatic tone, "But, soft! By yonder window breaks."

"Okay," Mario sheepishly replied, while from the backdrop Luigi (who was playing Mercutio) was laughing like a shy hyena.

Mario scowled at his brother, but composed himself once Daisy said "ACTION!"

"But soft! By yonder window breaks," Mario began before reading the rest of the part to the entirety of the Shakespeare's Sonnet.

"Well, that was well d-" Daisy began, before just staring at nothing, and their teacher grew worried. She began to feel sick to her stomach as flashes began to take over her mind and soon she couldn't even think straight. She began to see a vision of a girl with long beautiful golden hair that peeked out a dark purple cloak, or at leaqst she looked like a girl, but she couldn't really make out whether or not it was.

"It's your turn now," the vision said, and a golden light broke her mind. As she saw another vision this time of a stone castle covered in thorns!

"Daisy?" someone said, breaking her from her trance. She felt like she was about to faint, right then and there in front of everyone. Using her strength, she saw it was her teacher and supervisor, Mr. Yokoi. "Is everything alright?"

"I don't know," she answered blankly, but went back to work directing everyone.

After rehearsals wrapped up the four made their way to Library as it was the best place ever (well for them anyway)! "Hey, sis. What was with that blank stare back in the auditorium?" Penny asked, neatly organizing her ballet slippers and tutu for the recital soon. As they passed by the dance class she fell to the ground in a faint. Quick as a flash, her friends crowded around to check her pulse, but it was alive and healthy, but her eyes stared blankly ahead.

Meanwhile inside her mind, a similar vision was shone but it was on a lake under moonlight where a young woman wearing a tutu of silk and feathers with hair black as the velvet. "It was our turn, but now it's yours," the woman said, and she melted into feathers.

"What happened?" Penny asked, only to see herself in the nurse's office and her friends crowding sitting on the opposite bed.

"You fainted, Pen," Mario replied. Penny sat up, and told them the whole story. Mario and Daisy looked uncomfortable, while Luigi just looked a little confused. "A lot of weird stuff's been going on recently, hasn't it."

"I guess, but I'm alright now," Penny replied, and they helped her up and they just noticed the time.

"Looks like it's time to sing," Luigi said, and they made their way to the theatre and quickly went to the nearby bathroom and redressed in their fancy outfits that Daisy made for each of them. He looked around the room and realized he forgot his violin. "I need to go grab my violin," Luigi said, and then ran to his cubby in the Kindergarten section of the school. He ran for his green cubby, and grabbed his violin case. But the second his fingers brushed the case, he fell onto the shelf and a vision haunted him. He was lost on a distant shore, when a beautiful music filled the air, and he made his way to the music. The music came from another hazy figure, wearing a coat of green and a seafarer's brown pants, playing a violin of shells and sea rocks.

The only time he looked up was at Luigi, and said, "Your turn," and faded to sea foam. Luigi looked around, and thought nothing of it until he was in the auditorium where most of the families were already seated in their seats. "There you are!" his brother shouted, and grabbed his younger brother and marched him on stage.

(IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS DURING THAT SCENE CHECK OUT MY DEVIANTART, SO GO CHECK THAT OUT! Sorry I just have to keep those dumb jerks I mean the "fanfiction police" off my back)

"Good job, little br-" Mario said to his brother, now dressed in his normal clothes, when he saw a strange shadow crawling across the ceiling. "Do you see th-? Mario asked, but his friends were chatting away like usual, as if nothing happened. Mario quickly looked back at the ceiling only to see there was nothing at all. He grabbed his forehead in a panic, and thought _It's official, I'm going nuts!_. Desperate not to show this, he plastered a smile and still tried to seem cheerful despite this. Still he felt a little scared and unnerved by the strange creature as he and his brother left with their parents to a celebratory dinner for another job well done.

"Mario. Mario!" his mother called. Their mother's name was Evangeline and bears far more of a resemblance to Luigi than Mario being a fairly tall woman with short bobbish blonde hair that ended near her shoulders,and she was a maid and always went over to her clients' homes for work. "You seem very distressed. Is everything alright? You haven't even touched your pizza," their mother asked.

"Sorry, ma. There's just been a lot of strange things happening, but I'm alright," Mario replied as his raven-haired father and teal-irised eyed brother. _I mean I think I'm alright,_ Mario thought as he took a large bite of his pizza.

Mario and Luigi woke up the next thing only to see, something glowing under their pillows. Mario and Luigi threw off the pillows to see it was two strange amulets with unknown symbols but they were both compelled to put them on. The amulets chains weren't cold or icy, but warm and loving, but they couldn't think about this too long when they noticed what time it was.

"Well, I'm going back to sleep," Luigi asked but the moment he set his head upon the pillow, he and his brother disappeared into nearly thin air. They seemed to be transported through a long, narrow portal as images sped by at such a speed, that they could barely see who it was. Mario grabbed his brother and hung on to him, for this whole thing seemed disturbing but extraordinary at the same time. He kept his brother close, until they found themselves in a library where four humanoid creatures with long butterfly wings of rainbow colors (one severely injured), a man in a tall top hat and an orange shirt, and Penny and Daisy, sitting around a domed table with a crystal ball sitting inside and diamonds for reflecting light.

Mario and Luigi ran towards them to see they were similar amulets as they were and rushed over to them. The humanoid figures and the man turned around and said, "Ahhh. You finally found the amulets. Good. Now we can explain everything," the one with green-blue wings said.

"Why did you kidnap us?" Daisy asked, hiding the three other kids behind her.

"I'm sorry children, but we were desperate. The Goose Mother has grown so powerful that if we don't start training you, she will be unstoppable," the man said.

"The goo-? Like Mother Goose! If this is a joke, my father can put you away forever!" Daisy cried, and the rest of the children nodded in agreement. Suddenly, a gold and silvery light surrounded them and when they opened their eyes opened again, they were no longer in their regular clothes. Mario was now dressed in a muted green and red medieval style outfit with a hood, a leather hood connected to the jerkin, and black boots; Luigi was dressed in a seafarer's white shirt, black pants, with a light green long vest, brown boots, and golden gauntlets; Penny was dressed in a white and light pink ballet tutu that fell to her knees surrounded by white feathers, feather sleeves that were unconnected to the her tutu, and her hair was tied in a ballerina style bun; and Daisy wore a long dark purple cloak that nearly hid her eyes over an orange dress that had an A-line skirt and bodice with a crisp yellow petticoat, and white sleeves. To three of them, the clothes were familiar.

"W-who are you?" Luigi asked in disbelief.

"I'm Professor Layton. These women are the fairies of the Defenders," the man said, kindly, slightly easing the children's mind on the situation.

"I am the fairy of wisdom and hope," the fairy with golden wings said, then summoned a staff of gold and fairytale book embedded with rubies, diamonds, and a golden bound book and handed that to Daisy. "And you are my Defender."

"I am the fairy of generosity and compassion," said the fiery-red and silvery winged fairy, and, like her sister, summoned a silver bow and quill that could catch fire when Mario wanted it to. "That is what you will Defend."

"I am the fairy of love and grace," the third fairy with heart-shaped wings and in a warm, good smile. She then summoned a ballet ribbon attached to a pearl-encrusted handle that fit comfortably in her hand, and ballet shoes made of pink silk. "And with your loving heart, that is what you'll defend."

"I am the fairy of belief and innocence," the critically injured fairy said, and with every bit of strength she summoned Luigi's weapon, and Mario grabbed his brother who looked in a daze. The weapon was the seashell violin he saw in his vision, and nearly fell over, but was caught by the other Defenders.

"It's a little hard to take in," Luigi said, as he took the violin. "But what do we have to do?"

Author's Note: Now, we're almost to the plot of the First Dark Parables: Curse of the Briar Rose. Now, here's my question to you, as the reader, from just the way the costume and weapons are detailed, who are the first Defenders? (Hint: They're fairy tale characters that don't appear in the actual games.


	3. Curse of Briar Rose

Professor Layton took them over to the dome over the crystal ball, and said some magic words and then Daisy's storybook began to glow in her fingers and it JUMPED out of her hand and landed on the dome.

" _Many centuries ago, a King and Queen had a beautiful baby girl named Briar Rose, but on the day of her christening she was cursed by an evil Godmother that was uninvited to the party that in her 16th year she shall prick her finger on a spinning wheel and die. The youngest fairy was able to change and soften the curse saying that only true love's kiss can reverse the curse."_

"We already know this story though. It's Sleeping Beauty, right," Mario remarked, and the rest gave him an irritated expression.

"You didn't let me finish," Layton said. " _On her 16th birthday, Briar Rose was lured into the tallest tower to see a strange contraption sitting there. It was the last spinning wheel that the evil Godmother created, as all the others had been burnt by order of the King. She pricked her finger upon the spindle and fell into a sleep LIKE death, as did the whole castle,while the castle itself became filled with briars and roses. Well, one day a prince from a far off land came and was entranced by the Sleeping Beauty and kissed her. The castle awoken, but Briar Rose did not even stir a bit. They waited for weeks on end for her to wake up, but she never did and this was forgotten and became known only as the Sleeping Beauty,"_ Professor Layton said sadly. "You as Defenders, must save the sleeping Briar Rose and gain her medallion and stop those thorns from encasing all the realm," Professor Layton to see the children still in shock. He sighed and said, "As Defenders you will see that most fairy tales that Daisy's predecessor wrote, were made for children and weren't the truth."

"Where is the Sleeping Beauty?" Daisy asked, her voice hurt a little.

"The city you call Edinburgh," and they looked at each other in shock.

"We can't go to Scotland. We have school tomorrow, and our family's we'll be scared out of their minds when they can't find us," Penny replied, sadly.

"We have already figured had that figured out. Long before your parent's were even an idea," the fairy of wisdom and hope said. And each of them touched the amulets around the Defender's necks, and the fairy continued by saying, "Just say, 'dopple come out and play, I need to go and save the day.'" The defenders repeated what they said, and in seconds the amulets shone brightly and shot a beam of golden light at the floor. In seconds they were staring at exact copies of themselves (apart from them being a tad paler and far less energy). "These dopples will take your place while you take over as Defenders. They are hollow creatures with your memories and when you want to call them back just shout, 'Dopple your time is done, now it is time for we to become one."

"This is really creepy," Luigi remarked, as he stared at the strange magic...thing. "But, I guess it does solve school and stuff. But, how do we even get to Scotland?"

"Ask your brother?" the fairy of generosity and compassion remarked. Luigi, Penny, and Daisy were confused but when they looked over they saw Mario muttering something, and grabbed one of the arrows from its quiver and shot it at the wall. In an instance, the wall began to form a portal and they saw the castle from Daisy's vision.

"Is it safe? Because I'm not putting my sister through a magic portal where she might become jelly."

"It's safe, Daisy," Mario insisted and he went through himself. Daisy sighed and followed him, then Penny, and Luigi was the last. In only a flash they were standing on the cobblestone ground of a castle surrounded by thorns of all kinds, and they were all carrying some sort of sack. Daisy wore an old fashioned medicine bag and inside was the storybook and a worn leather bound and a quill with magic ink, Mario's was his quiver which he learned could carry a few more things than just arrows, like swords and small potions, Penny's was an embroidered purse that she wore on the beaded belt above the skirt, and Luigi's was a common sailor's bag that you carry over your shoulder but it was surprisingly light. They looked over at the different briars, and Penny scraped her hand against a thorn so sharp it drew her thick red blood. "We can't let these briars encase Edinburgh and Europe," Penny remarked as they passed through a wooden door where they saw a statue of a beautiful maiden, with her hair flowing loose around her shoulders and wearing a long gown and holding a staff with a rose. They looked at a gate but it was covered by thorns, "I have a sword, maybe I could cut away the thorns," Mario said, and began to slash at the thorns but it barely dented them.

"Leave the puzzle solving to me, Mario," Daisy said, her eyes narrowed. She walked back over to the statue and saw some an inscription printed on the bottom that featured a lion, a swan, a dolphin, and an eagle. She quickly looked through the storybook to see if anything matched, and it did. On the first page was the same exact animals surrounding the amulets, "I got it!" Daisy cried, while they listened to Luigi play a song on the sea-themed violin. "We need to use our tools together!"

"Which song?" Luigi asked, while Mario slapped his forehead.

She looked at the book and it said to just think about what you want it the weapon to do. "Just think about removing the briars," Daisy said, and grabbed her staff and began to think of nothing but removing the briars. Luigi, being the Defender of belief, played a song and not thinking of the creepy castle they were about to enter, together the briars began to inch away and Mario and Penny began to help them. The briars started to recede faster, until they disappeared all together. "I think someone owes someone an apology," Daisy cockily said, and Mario muttered an apology.

"We need to go free the Princess," Penny cried, grabbing her sister's and best friend's hands, as Luigi chuckled behind.

She let go once they saw a gate and a strange crow sitting upon the heads of the King and Queen from the Storybook. _That's odd,_ Penny thought to herself as she looked at the panel. _It doesn't have a key, just portraits!_ Penny continued to think and she pulled her sister over to the portraits. "Solve it!"

Daisy, Mario, and Luigi gave Penny a confused look, but she continued. "Tap it with you staff, and then solve it," Penny said, and Daisy complied. In seconds a the owl's stone eyes burned a light-green and revealed several tiny pieces with pictures of royal items that was used in the Medieval Ages that fit into the small hole that surrounded the portraits of a king, queen, and prince. Daisy quickly began to assemble the portraits with the matching picture pieces and it opened once she solved the whole thing. The gate creaked openly, just enough for them to fit through, and the pedestal the king had been sitting on opened. Daisy, lit up her staff, and it revealed an item. It was just a common door handle, but it could be useful. She quickly grabbed it and placed it in her satchel and wrote in her journal there exploits so far.

"We should get going. It's getting really dark here," Mario insisted, and the three others nodded and headed through the gate.

"Was it just me or did those statues look so...life-like. Like they could come alive at any moment?" Daisy asked as they came across another, but smaller courtyard with a fountain still flowing with water.

"Maybe the king and queen's ghost inhabit them, and if we're not careful they will jump out and take our souls," Luigi goofily said, but it still scared Peach and she raced under Daisy's cloak.

"Oh come on, Luigi. They have been dead close to a thousand years," Daisy said, slapping her forehead, and Peach inched her way out of her cloak.

Meanwhile, Mario had been observing the next gate, this was green with a giant missing crest in the center. "Hey, guys do you think the crest could be in that fountain," Mario asked as he saw a small ruby jewel gleaming in the fountain.

"It could be," Daisy remarked and she and Luigi knelt down and searched for the lost stone fragments that lie on the water.

They were all in pieces, and they grew discouraged until Daisy remembered her storybook. She flipped through some pages to see that Penny's ribbon could fix anything that had been broken. "Penny, wrap your ribbon around the emblem," and she nodded. She tied the ribbon and it beamed a bright golden color, but when she unwrapped it they were disheartened to see it was only a half of the emblem. Luigi then walked over to the brick wall that surrounded the courtyard covered in briars.

"Luigi, wait!" Mario cried, but these briars retracted the second his amulet scrapped the thorns. It revealed a courtyard leading to a bridge with a rust covered swing and a moss ridden column.

"What are you waiting for? Come on!" Luigi cried and they all walked in the new courtyard, and Daisy quickly placed the star emblem into her satchel.

Below them was a four-sided star, and their weapons seemed to be ripped right off their backs and were placed neatly in the center facing the four directions and from the nearby rose petals formed a beautiful young woman that looked exactly like the statue from earlier. The children backed away, but the women said, "Welcome, Defenders. Do not be alarmed, for I am Briar Rose, and I wish you four no harm. The curse has returned and a great danger looms, but I can stop it, before all Europe is consumed. My body lies in repose, in a castle room deep; to vanquish the Briard Curse, you must wake my from my eternal sleep."

"But, how?" Mario asked, skeptical as this could be the Evil Godmother's doing.

Briar Rose pointed lowered her head. "The Evil Godmother haunts this place; be wary or fail this case. Vanquish the godmother, and I will be set free; though this will not be easy. Now come with me," Briar Rose said, and began to walk towards the castle before disappearing.

Luigi looked over at Daisy, and gave a smug smile, "I told you ghost were real," as they grabbed their tools and placed them on their backs.

"It's not wise to gloat to someone carrying a giant stick," Daisy responded and she headed off to the bridge. Penny, meanwhile, had grabbed a doll that had appeared after Briar Rose disappeared, and placed that in her pocket where it shrunk to the size of toy car.

They passed the graveyard of the King and Queen, where Daisy knelt down next to the statue of the King and Queen to see the pedestal had decorations with the heads of a rabbit, a mouse, and a monkey along with a rusted keyhole. She grazed the stone tiles until she felt a lose one and carefully pulled it out to reveal a rusted key that fitted perfectly into the keyhole and another puzzle appeared before her. It was a slide puzzle that she completed in only seconds, but another puzzle awaited her. She needed to ring the bells in the order the animal heads shifted and though this took a bit longer, she completed in ease and like the one before a the pedestal door opened to reveal the bell tower's key.

"Hey, Dais!" Luigi called, as she placed the bell tower's key in her bag. She looked back to see her friends standing over a tile with strange markings and writings. "Weird looking, right?"

"Yeah, but we need to focus on the task at hand," she commented and told them to follow her to the bell tower. Outside the bell tower there were two pedestals, one with a statue and the other was missing.

Penny walked over to the one with the statue and read out loud, "'The Godmother of Rose.'" She looked back to see Mario standing by her. "Probably the Sleeping Beauty's Godmother."

"Yeah, most likely. Are you okay? I mean you always believed in-" Mario began, until they heard the creaking of the gate to the bell tower, and their respective siblings walking up the stone stairs.

"I'm...okay. But we better hurry up to the others," Penny says, and she and her best friend raced up the stairs where they got a whole view of the eerie Scottish castle. They saw it was surrounded by mountains, but were disheartened to see how far the briars had actually gotten as they were close to the outer walls of the castle and felt the weight of their mission for the first time.

Mario peeked through the telescope in hopes of getting a glimpse of the Sleeping Beauty so they would at least know where they were going. "Don't bother, Mario," Luigi said, who had been helping search for the second half of the sun emblem (which was the pale moon). "It's too dirty to see through," Luigi remarked, as Penny wrapped the moon half in her ribbon and then reunited them as one.

Mario slapped his forehead and turned the telescope around wiped the outer part with his thumb, and spun it back around. He looked through it to see the princess sleeping in the highest room of the tallest tower, and quickly told his friends, "But we need to place the emblem in the door."

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Daisy remarked and they headed for the fountain. Mario quickly placed the emblem in the door, and Daisy locked it in place. They entered and they dreaded what may be behind the door.

Author's Note: So, we're finally getting into their first mission and if you want to solve the mystery yourself check out the game for yourself or the YouTubers who've played.


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